While writing code I think about what I am doing, improvements, etc. To write easy boilerplate code helps me to find improvements or even realize that there is some risk I overlooked. It is a zen state that helps with the deep thinking part.
Not writing code forces me to read and reread the code to get the same realization. That is why it is harder to work with code written by other people.
In the age of AI all code is code written by someone else that I have to maintain, it looks like a nightmare.
Yeah I have the same. In general, writing (and experimenting) is how I _think_. If I read code, it takes me a lot longer to understand.
Sure, I save some time by not having to do any trial and error, I'm looking at a solution that already works according to some testing. But then I start to wonder about edge cases, leaky abstractions and such, and not having done the work, that's where a lot of the effort saved by not writing it comes back, at a stage where the work is seemingly already done and "just" needs reviewing, which is somehow more frustrating.
Perhaps people are just different. I work great on a blank canvas. I know a lot of people struggle immensely with it. Hell, some people type so slow or have such low mastery of their tools, I really feel their pain watching them.
One old trick that helps a bit with understanding, is to not copy paste what the AI suggested, but rather to manually copy the code suggested the way you would do it with a physical book.
Not writing code forces me to read and reread the code to get the same realization. That is why it is harder to work with code written by other people.
In the age of AI all code is code written by someone else that I have to maintain, it looks like a nightmare.